People fleeing war and persecution are ready and able to contribute to our society. The problem is... they're not allowed. Rather than shipping them off to army barracks all over the country, it's time to let asylum seekers work.

A radio programme like the Shipping Forecast but it’s called Bin Day and it just reads out every single council in the country’s bin schedule

Herb rich and rabbit bit… Despite the escape into open air, this wonderful poem just gets darker and darker until that final, slamming last image. Stunning write. 🏆

A foreign government gloating over its influence over our national broadcaster. The Telegraph, BoJo, Farage and all those involved in this scandal claim to be patriots when they are nothing more than shills for Washington. All that stuff about sovereignty during Brexit was just BS, wasn’t it?

Never understood why MX80 Sound don't get the props that Pere Ubu, Chrome, This Heat, etc, do for being post-punk before punk. Here they are already sounding like Sonic Youth in 1976/77: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kk6...

Hi @hool415.bsky.social - here's my response to #PromptCombo #WorkingLove #poem #poetry

If you're unsure what Zack stands for, or whether you want to join the Green party, then please take 5 minutes of your time to read this. Hopefully it can clarify some things & show why he & The Greens, are a true viable alternative.

There you have it. Someone who knows the far right press intimately, says what we all know: the BBC has been subject to a coup orchestrated by fascists in DC. Hard to imagine a more serious abuse of UK sovereignty & democratic integrity. The BBC Board must resign. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

Everything on our news agenda is being driven by a corrupted disinformation machine, run by a billionaire who sponsors Tommy Robinson and who keeps trying to foment civil war in the UK. And incredibly our MPs & news providers stay there. THAT is the problem. Not some bad editing choice on the BBC.

Cheers! We don't have to agree on absolutely everything. But want lower bills? Think billionaires should pay more tax? Join.greenparty.org.uk

On the BBC News front page, you can find out how two prisoners were accidentally released last year, about a TV celebrity's cancer surgery, and about how to make veggie meatball soup But no mention AT ALL of the COP30 climate summit I am lost for words www.bbc.co.uk/news

Hi @youngliz.bsky.social and #vss365. Response to prompt #language

If you’re my age then politics in the 21st century was one avoidable, ludicrous catastrophe after another: disastrous wars, financial collapse, crumbling infrastructure and plummeting living standards, all explained via utterly abject, insulting drivel.The question is, who do you think is to blame.

I won't prompt tag again to save spamming, but this - THIS! - is the one 😂 write.as/robgalpin/ar... #poem #poetry

For this week's #PoemsAbout #LockedDoors with thanks to @alanparrywriter.co.uk @thebrokenspine.co.uk and all those participating. Not what I thought I'd write...

Felt like I was writing against the prompt here - an unusually (?) chirpy one from me! #PoemsAbout #LockedDoors - thanks @alanparrywriter.co.uk and @thebrokenspine.co.uk #PoetryCommunity #Poem #Poetry

Devastating— “I’m afraid for my parents to leave the house. They treat us like dogs because of the color of our skin. I shouldn’t be scared, I should be focusing on school.” A 16yo American living in fear of the Trump regime’s ICE goons terrorizing brown people pleads for help.

#vss365 #geography #poetry

Here we go here we go here we go

1/2 Hounds in the garden just now, on the trail of some poor fox. This is still the reality of "trail hunting" in North Dorset in 2025. I put so much effort into making this place a sanctuary for wildlife. @angelaeagle1.bsky.social @parliamentarygoose.bsky.social

Still can't wrap my head around the fact that internationally renowned activist Greta Thunberg said she was tortured and sexually humiliated by Israeli soldiers when she was abducted for trying to bring aid to starving civilians and the world just shrugged and moved on.

Well this was a nice surprise as I'd forgotten it was coming out today. Thank you @atriumpoetry.bsky.social for publishing this one 🍰🦷

This strange offering is aiming to be a metaphorical piece, about aging if that's not obvious. It's literal too and experimental for me. The cold and damp weather is getting into my joints. For @rfsmith.bsky.social #PromptCombo #Storm

#promptcombo. Thank you @rfsmith.bsky.social for a great #storm prompt. #poetrycommunity #poetry #poems #blueskypoets #blueskypoetry #poetry. This one has no title. It was written after a real event.

Hi @rfsmith.bsky.social and #PromptCombo - here's my offering for #Storm, based on notes made after our summer wind storm #poem #poetry

BBC: Britain’s most expensive Reform press office, brought to you by your licence fee.

Lightly dispiriting walk through the old mining village of Dudley yesterday. Lots of flags, obviously. The colliery is now a decent country park however - loads of kestrels #poem

Jesus Christ. We go mad about one bloke we wrongly released, yet hear next to nothing about this horror? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

#Poem of the leaving year #poetry write.as/robgalpin/wi...

Slightly cheating today as this has been published before but there's a poem for #blood and @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk I'll pop back in later for sharing and reading.

#Poem of the leaving year #poetry write.as/robgalpin/wi...

This is why the flags are going up around here. I don't condone it, but I do understand it. There's communities like ours all over the country, ripe for the picking. All the fascists need to do is give people who have nothing something to get angry about. www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

Here's a quick, possibly tenuous poem for #poemsabout #blood this week. Huge appreciation to @alanparrywriter.co.uk & @thebrokenspine.co.uk for the opportunity and to all the poets for their great posts #poems #poetry

Interesting article. “The key take-home points are that if you take action for biodiversity in cities (through tree planting, or enhancing habitat in parks, or creating greenways) these actions will also likely yield benefits to human health.” #biodiversity www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I never really got beyond the wonderful title track of this album back in the day, but this is fantastic

Shocked to learn that press and politicians aren’t faithfully reflecting the spontaneous lived concerns of ordinary folk: "for most people, concerns around immigration are not based on personal experience”

I hope this is read in the way intended. The #blood prompt led me in quite a serious direction - this wasn't tossed off, and I hope I've treated the subject (colonial violence and complicity) with... well, whatever it deserves. #PromptCombo, @thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk

Westminster Voting Intention: RFM: 32% (=) GRN: 17% (+2) CON: 16% (-1) LAB: 16% (=) LDM: 12% (=) SNP: 2% (=) Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 29 Oct. Changes w/ 22 Oct.

Poem of change and renewal #poem #poetry

The congregation. Masses of ne'er-do-wells not pictured.

Reminder: it is the policy of @greenparty.org.uk that formal schooling start two years later, when children are ready. Cyrrent system sets kids up to "fail": no they are not "school-ready". They are too young www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It is way past time for the UK government & the BBC to get off X & for Musk to be treated as a threat to national security. The world's richest man is using his site to promote civil war, ethnic violence & the overthrow of an elected government. You won't win him over with another conference on AI

That’s Elon Musk, Fellow of the Royal Society, I’ll have you know. Because the Royal Society can only seem to come up with throat-clearing noises as a response to these sorts of statements instead of actually throwing him out.

I will be listening to all seven unlabelled TDKs I got from Oxfam in Reading, from beginning to end. Even though two are D120s and the eighth one is labelled "Charles Wesley Hymn Choir 16 April 1994 Maidenhead"

American fascism is the Reform blueprint for Britain. Unlike the US we need to fight NOW so the grifters never get into power. Join/support the only political force taking on racist, fascist Reform without compromise: @greenparty.org.uk @zackpolanski.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

I knew we would get to "british news outlets pretending not to know what panto is" eventually